What’s Up?

Kanye West half hour rant
Rapper Kanye West, known for his bizarre rants and polarising personality, still managed to shock his audience when in the middle of a show he launched into an almost half an hour rant that spanned Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerbug, fellow rapper Jay Z and politics.
He revealed that he didn’t vote, but would have voted for Trump, a revelation that had the crowd booing him, some even throwing things at him. Running himself hoarse from the strange rant that was oddly on par for the course with him, he wrapped up the show, giving attendees a refund. He later cancelled the rest of his US tour, making a future European tour doubtful. Some were wondering why the rapper made such a decision, though he is well renowned for his attention seeking tactics.

Chattanooga bus crash
A deadly school bus crash on November 21 afternoon in Tennessee continued to send shockwaves across the US. Five elementary-school students were killed in the crash. Police announced Tuesday that the driver, 24-year-old Johnthony Walker, would be charged with vehicular homicide, reckless endangerment and reckless driving. The investigation continues into the cause of the crash. Tweeps went on about how crowds gathered throughout Tuesday at a makeshift memorial in front of the home where the crash occurred.

It is ironical that the Patna express derailment incident that lead to the deaths of 146 people, engaged comparatively fewer Tweeps.

Lolly-gate
As South Africa steamrolls the Australian cricket team in Australia, the tour took a dark turn when the touring team’s captain Faf du Plessis was charged by the ICC for ball tampering. The allegation is that du Plessis was caught eating a mint and then using his spit to tamper with the ball, but the situation, nicknamed Lolly-gate, has transcended the incident. Many were calling the Australians sore losers despite the fact that the accusation came neither from the players nor Cricket Australia – it was the ICC that reviewed the footage.

Later, an Australian reporter approached du Plessis in an airport and was strongly rebuffed. While some say the reporter was violating the space of the team, others say that the security team’s reaction was too strong and opinion is divided as to who is in the wrong.

Gigi Hadid impression of Melania Trump
Gigi Hadid, actor, model and social media darling was called out for her impression of Melania Trump at the AMA awards. While the audience laughed as Hadid poked fun at Melania Trump’s stealing of Michelle Obama’s speech, people on social media weren’t as happy. Pointing out that she was disrespecting the future First lady, some told her to make fun of Donald Trump and not his wife. Others called her a hypocrite for bullying someone when she has previously stood up against bullying herself. Hadid is yet to respond to this reaction.

Name a mike pence musical
The cast of Hamilton made news when it read out a statement to future Vice President Mike Pence when he attended one of the hit Broadway musical performances. Asking the crowd to refrain from booing, the actor who plays Aaron Burr, another Vice President, asked that Pence who is known for his anti-gay stance work for all Americans, of all races, genders and orientations. The move was met with approval online until president-elect Donald Trump fired two tweets that demanded an apology from the cast, saying that they disrespected a good man and were rude.

This sparked an online war, with the hashtags ‘Name a mike pence musical’ trending alongside ‘boycott Hamilton’. Others maintained that Trump was merely sparking a controversy so as to move fire away from the fact that he settled a case concerning Trump University out of court. Many, however, were disturbed that barely weeks into office the future president was attacking artistic freedoms.